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The Opposite of Fate
Amy Tan
With love to Lou DeMattei, who knows the fiction and nonfiction of my life, as well as all that cannot be put into words.
Table of Contents
THE CLIFFSNOTES VERSION OF MY LIFE
AMERICAN CIRCUMSTANCES AND CHINESE CHARACTER
STRONG WINDS, STRONG INFLUENCES
MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH VLADIMIR NABOKOV
LUCK, CHANCE, AND A CHARMED LIFE
ROOM WITH A VIEW, NEW KITCHEN, AND GHOSTS
REQUIRED READING AND OTHER DANGEROUS SUBJECTS
Praise for The Opposite of Fate
These are musings on my life, including the metaphors I used as an eight-year-old child, sensing books as windows opening and illuminating my room, and the thoughts I had as I wrote my mother’s obituary, trying to sum up who she was and what legacy she had bequeathed to me.
I call this a book of musings because the writings are mostly casual pieces rather than formal essays. Some are long, versions of conversational talks I gave at universities. Others are short, particular to the desperate hour in which I wrote them, for example, the eulogy for my editor, the incomparable Faith Sale; or the e-mail sent to friends after an unexpected disaster resulting in my near-demise made the national news. There is also a love